Passive matrix thin-film electro-luminescent display

• US 8,049,685 B2
• Filed: 11/09/2006
• Issued: 11/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Global OLED Technology LLC (LG Display Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Global OLED Technology LLC (LG Display Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Miller, Michael E., Cok, Ronald S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lao; Lun-Yi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lee; Gene W
• Application Number:
  US11/558,093
• Publication Number:
  US 20080111771A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,818 Days
• Field of Search: 345 11-111, 345204-215, 345690-699, 315/169.3
• US Class Current: 345/76
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/023 Display panel composed of stacked panels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/06 Passive matrix structure, i.e. with direct application of both column and row voltages to the light emitting or modulating elements, other than LCD or OLED
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/021 Double addressing, i.e. scanning two or more lines, e.g. lines 2 and 3; 4 and 5, at a time in a first field, followed by scanning two or more lines in another combination, e.g. lines 1 and 2; 3 and 4, in a second field
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/021 Power management, e.g. power saving
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/30 using electroluminescent panels

Abstract

A passive-matrix, thin-film electro-luminescent display system includes a display having a substrate with organic layers and orthogonally arranged electrodes formed thereon. One or more display drivers: (i) receives an input image signal for addressing the light-emitting elements of the display; (ii) decomposes the signal into a low-resolution component signal and a high-resolution component signal, wherein the low-resolution component signal contains one half or less of the number of addressable locations as the high-resolution component signal; and (iii) that provides a drive signal for driving the display wherein the low-resolution component signal and the high-resolution component signal are independently provided to the display to form a combined image.

Claims

1. A passive-matrix, thin-film electro-luminescent display system, comprising:

a) a display including;

i) a substrate;

ii) a first electrode layer patterned to form lines along a first dimension of the substrate;

iii) one or more thin-film electro-luminescent layers, formed on the first electrode layer;

iv) a second electrode layer formed on the one or more thin-film electro-luminescent layer(s), wherein the second electrode layer is patterned to form lines along a second dimension of the substrate different from the first dimension;

v) wherein the intersection of the lines of the first and second electrode layers define individual light-emitting elements comprising an electro-luminescent unit; and

b) one or more display drivers that

i) receives an input image signal for addressing the light-emitting elements of the display;

ii) decomposes the signal into a low-resolution component signal and a high-resolution component signal, each of which consists of different addressable locations during a single frame cycle, wherein the low-resolution component signal contains one half or less of the number of the addressable locations as the high-resolution component signal, and the low-resolution component signal and the high-resolution component signal are driven alternately; and

iii) provides a drive signal for driving the display wherein the low-resolution component signal and the high-resolution component signal are independently provided to the display to form a combined image.

2. The display according to claim 1, wherein multiple light-emitting elements along both dimensions of the display are activated when the low-resolution component signal is provided to the display and multiple light-emitting elements along only one dimension of the display are activated when the high-resolution component signal is provided to the display.

3. The display according to claim 1, wherein the display further comprises one or more thin-film electro-luminescent layers and at least a third electrode layer which together comprise a second electro-luminescent unit and wherein the low-resolution component signal is used to drive a first electroluminescent unit at a first refresh rate and the high-resolution component signal is used to drive a second electro-luminescent unit at a second refresh rate.

4. The display according to claim 3, wherein the first refresh rate is at least twice the second refresh rate.

5. The display according to claim 1, wherein the display further comprises a second substrate and wherein a first plurality of electroluminescent units are formed on the first substrate and is driven by the low-resolution component signal and a second plurality of electroluminescent units are formed on the second substrate and is driven by the high-resolution component signal.

6. The display according to claim 5, wherein the first plurality of electroluminescent units are formed at a relatively lower resolution on the first substrate and the second plurality of electroluminescent units are formed at a relatively higher resolution on the second substrate.

7. The display according to claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises two sides and wherein a first plurality of electroluminescent units are formed on a first side of the substrate and is driven by the low-resolution component signal and a second plurality of electroluminescent units are formed on the second side of the substrate and is driven by the high-resolution component signal.

8. The display according to claim 1, wherein the low-resolution signal drives a plurality of contiguous elements in one or more rows or columns simultaneously with the same signal and the high-resolution signal alternately drives one row or column.

9. The display according to claim 1, wherein the low-resolution signal is displayed more frequently than the high-resolution signal.

10. The display according to claim 1, wherein the low-resolution signal and high-resolution signal are interleaved full-frame signals.

11. The display according to claim 1, wherein the low-resolution signal and high-resolution signal are interleaved row or column signals.

12. The display according to claim 1, wherein the rows or columns are grouped into disjoint sets of contiguous rows or columns, respectively, and the low-resolution signal is displayed on some or all of the rows or columns in the group and the high-resolution signal is alternately and cyclically displayed on one or more of the rows or columns, respectively, in the group.

13. The display according to claim 1, wherein the rows or columns are grouped into a plurality of disjoint sets of contiguous rows or columns, respectively, and the low-resolution signal is displayed on some or all of the rows or columns in the group and the high-resolution signal is alternately displayed on one or more of the rows or columns in a different group.

14. The display according to claim 1, wherein display is a color display comprising different electro-luminescent that emit different colors of light and wherein the refresh rate for electro-luminescent elements that emit one color of light is different from the refresh rate for electroluminescent elements that emit a different color of light.

15. The display according to claim 14, wherein the refresh rate for electro-luminescent elements that emit green or white light is higher than the refresh rate for electro-luminescent elements that emit red or blue light.

16. The display according to claim 10, wherein electro-luminescent layers are layers of OLED materials.